Machinations of a God
by RavenAdain
Summary: In a ruined future the mad God Grima rules in his chosen vessel, but when he is forced to follow those who would end his reign back in time, a new pawn rises to oppose him. A retelling of the Awakening story centered around the avatar.
1. Chapter 1

"Hyuuuurg!"

The blue haired lord's battle cry rebounded off the walls. His opponent was parrying the blows with his magic. A man in a dark trench jacket charged up a thoron spell.

"Up there!", The blue haired man shouted as the sorcerer blasted a wave of dark energy at the the two fighters. The lord rolled away from the blast and trench coat dived away, firing a bolt of electricity at the sorcerer.

"Fools" the sorcerer said in a menacing undertone as he teleported beside the Lord, blasting him through a pillar. "Haha hahaha...die!" He cackled triumphantly, launching a ball of dark energy at the fallen lord.

"CHROM!", the tactician shouted, sending a ball of lightning to counter the spell.

The resulting explosion filled the air with dust and smoke leaving the Lord and tactician disoriented. The sorcerer teleported away from the two to gather more magical energy.

The tactician rose and rushed to Chrom's side and helped him to his feet. "This dastard isn't going to go down easy is he?" Chrom said, fighting through the pain.

"Well were you expecting him to just sit back as you ran him through with Falchion?" The tactician asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Chrom looked at his friend's face with some concern. "You aren't usually like this Robin, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing", the tactician, Robin, said unsheathing his mother's blade. "We have to end this here and now, before he resurrects Grima." Chrom was going to reply but stopped himself, he was right and the only way to get it done was together.

"Hahahaha why do you resist?", the sorcerer asked menacingly. "Are you that eager to meet your ends?" The two swordsmen started to rush him. "hmph, very well, I will end you here and give your life force to master Gri..." He was cut off when Chrom slashed Falchion down at him, forcing the sorcerer to dodge, right into Robin's blade.

"I'm...not meant to...to die here...", the sorcerer sputtered trying to force himself off of the blade planted firmly in his chest.

"Maybe not", Robin said from under the shadow of his cowl his face a dark mass in the sorcerer's dimming view, "but unfortunately for you, I don't believe in fate!" He shouted sending a thoron spell through the blade and sending the sorcerer flying back, his body enrapt in purple flames.

Chrom gave him an exhausted smile. "No this isn't over", the sorcerer's voice spat in Robin's head, filled with uncontained hate, a massive ball of energy forming above him, "damn you both!" Robin knew that he couldn't counter the spell fast enough and reached out to push Chrom out of the way. Chrom's smile faded when he felt himself get pushed to the side and saw the ever brightening purple light on his friend.

Robin took the full force of the attack and was sent flying. He landed on his back, hard. Chrom rushed over to him, panic written on his face, "are you alright?" He asked desperately. Robin coughed an affirmative and with Chrom's help got to his feet but still leaned on him for support. The sorcerer's body had disintegrated into nothing. "That's the end of him" Chrom said openly, confident, "thanks to you we carried the day."

But the words failed to reach Robin as an immense pressure and pain filled his head, spreading through his entire being. Robin shrunk into himself and fell to his knees, uttering a silent scream.

Chrom felt his friend fall in his grip and turned to him, worried. "Hey are you oka...", Chrom began as he went to a knee beside his friend, but Robin stood to his feet delivering an inhumanly powerful knee to Chrom's chin in the process. Chrom, dazed, looked at Robin's face and saw a toothy smile matched with glowing red eyes. Still smiling, 'Robin' created a spear of lightning and embedded it into Chrom's stomach, laughing like a madman. _NO!_ Robin screamed in his head, unable to move a single muscle in his body. "Does it feel good", 'Robin' asked both his vessel and the fallen Lord as he began twisting the spear, "knowing that you tried?"

* * *

 **A/N: Great things often have humble beginnings.**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Minor Miracle

"Chrom, we have to do something…", a loud voice said stabbing his ears. _Dear gods, first that god-awful vision and now this?_ He thought begrudgingly with his eyes closed. _I swear that... wait, did she say Chrom?_

"What do you propose we do?" asked a familiar sounding voice. _Ok now I know that I know that voice._ He thought trying to open his eyes.

"Well I...I dunno.", the louder voice said, now sounding distinctly feminine. He opened his eyes and saw two people: a young man with deep blue eyes with hair the same colour dressed in light, blue clothing with armour down the left side, and a girl that looked to be late in her teens with blonde hair in pigtails in a yellow dress.

They both gave a small gasp and recoiled a bit. _Oh damn,_ he thought, _do I really look that bad? "_ I see you're awake now" the blue haired man said bringing him back to reality.

"Hey there", the girl said with an embarrassed laugh.

"There are better places to sleep than on the ground you know", the familiar blue haired man said with a chuckle, offering his hand, "give me your hand." He took the man's hand and noticed a purple mark on the back of his own. _I guess I'll have to look into that later,_ he thought absently.

"You all right?", the blue haired guy asked. "Y-yes...", he stammered a bit embarrassed. _Wait a minute, didn't she call him Chrom? Well, nothing ventured nothing gained._ He thought before saying, "Thank you, Chrom."

A sharp look of suspicion crossed Chrom's face. "Ah, then you know who I am?" He asked, his hand moving to rest around the hilt of his sword. A man in heavy armour behind him seemed to be ready to strike at any moment.

He put his hands up in a defensive manner. "No, actually, I think I heard her call you that before I got up.", he said, pointing at the girl behind Chrom.

Chrom seemed to relax a bit after his question was answered. "Well then", Chrom said, "Tell me, what's your name? What brings you here?"

"Of course, my name is...it's...hmm?" He racked his brain for an answer. _Can I really not remember my own name?,_ he thought, now thoroughly troubled by his lack of memory.

"...you don't know your own name?", Chrom asked, the suspicion creeping back onto his face.

"I'm not sure if...I'm sorry", he stuttered, something starting to dawn on him as he looked around, "but where am I, exactly?" _I am either going to make it out of here with a few answers or I'm going to die,_ he thought, _and I must look like a complete and utter fool._

The girl was the next to speak, taking the attention of everyone except the man in armour, whose eyes burned into the stranger's head. "Hey, I've heard of this!", she exclaimed, voice still hurting his ears, "It's called amnesia!"

Chrom looked at him hard for a moment before the knight behind him broke his silence, "It's called questions load of pegasus dung", he said harshly, glare never leaving his face, "we're to believe that you just happened to be lying in the field where we were planning on traveling with no memory of who or where you are?"

He was speechless. This man lacked any form of compassion. "B-but it's the truth!", he said desperately.

Chrom stepped in between the two men and looked into the knight's eyes. "what if it is true, Frederick? We can't just leave him here alone and confused.", he said almost scolding the knight, Frederick, "what sort of Shepherds would we be then?"

The fire in Frederick's eyes didn't leave. "Just the same, milord, I must emphasize caution. T'would not do to let a wolf into our flock.

"Chrom nodded in agreement, "right then-we'll take him back to town and sort this out there."

'He' took a step back after listening to the entire exchange. _This is certainly shaping up to be something interesting, but how involved do I really want to get?,_ 'He' thought in panic, "wait just one moment. Do I have any say in this?"

"Peace friend, Chrom sighed, "we'll hear all you have to say back in town. Now come."

The group started to walk to Southtown, the closest town for several days travel from the field 'He' was found in. He still was uncertain about whether or not he made the right choice with following the three shepherds but hadn't yet voiced his opinion. He decided that enough was enough and stopped walking and asked, "What will you do with me? Am I to to be your prisoner?"

Chrom stopped walking and looked at him with a smile on his face. "Haha! ", he laughed, "You'll be free to go once we establish you're no enemy of Ylisse."

 _Ylisse?,_ he thought before asking, "Is that where we are? Ylisse?"

It was Frederick who answered, "You've never heard of the Halidom?" The suspicion came back to his eyes, "Ha! Someone pay this actor. He plays quite quite the fool! The furrowed brow is especially convincing..."

'He' just gave Frederick a look of complete exasperation before Chrom spoke up, "Frederick, please", he then looked at 'him' and explained, "This land is known as the halidom of Ylisse. Our ruler, Emmeryn, is called the Exalt." He had a small smile on his face as he spoke. He snapped back to reality though and said, "I suppose proper introductions are in order..."

"My name is Chrom-but then, you already figured that out. The delicate one here", he said, putting his hand on the girl's head with a chuckle, "is my little sister, Lissa."

Lissa pushed his hand off of her head and pouted, "I am NOT delicate! ...hmph!" She collected herself quickly though and a smile was back on her face, "ignore my brother, please. He can be a bit thick sometimes. But you're lucky the Shepherds found you. Brigands would've been a rude awakening!"

'He' looked at them all with a serious and very confused expression. "You're telling me, that you tend sheep...In full armour.", he deadpanned. Chrom and Lissa laughed a bit at his confusion but Frederick remained as stoic as ever.

"Heh, it's as dangerous job. Just ask Frederick the Wary here." Chrom said, nodding at Frederick.

While it was intended as jest, Frederick took it as a compliment, "A title I shall wear with pride. God's forbid one of us keeps an appropriate level of caution." He turned to 'him' and said with almost a hint of compassion, "I have every wish to trust you stranger, but my station mandates otherwise."

'He' could understand where Frederick was coming from now, as it was apparent to 'him' that Frederick represented a father figure to the other two. "I understand, sir.", 'he' started, "it should do no less myself. My name it's Robin." Everyone looked at him like he had three eyes before he realized what he said, "...I just remembered that. How odd. I suppose that's one mystery solved."

Chrom was the first to speak, "Robin? Is that foreign? Ah well, we can discuss it later when we get to tow-"

"Chrom LOOK!", Lissa screamed, pointing at the town. Everyone turned to look at where she was pointing and they saw that the town was ablaze.

"Dammit!", Chrom exclaimed, rage evident in his voice, "those blasted Brigands, no doubt. Frederick, Lissa, let's go!"

Frederick turned to Chrom. "What about him?", he asked pointing at Robin. A look of impatience plastered itself on Chrom's face.

"Unless he's on fire it can wait.", he deadpanned.

"Aptly put, milord.", said Frederick.

"C'mon let's go!", urged Lissa who was ready to take off at any moment.

The three ran off towards Southtown, leaving Robin behind. Having no idea where or even who he was, he ran shortly after them. He tripped over a root after a few steps though, and fell firmly on his face. As he fell, his mind screamed, _son of a bitch._ He crashed to the ground falling beside the main road. "Is everyone this lucky or am I just that special to someone?", he asked himself as he lay on the ground. He sighed, brought his hands in front of himself in an effort to push himself up but his hands fell upon a curved piece of wood. Looking up he saw a well, weathered chest with a lock that looked to be heavily corroded. He wrapped a hand around what was left of the lock and pulled, snapping the metal and pulled the lid open to reveal it's contents. He was left speechless. Inside were a wide assortment of weapons that looked to go on far longer than should have been possible but on top of all of it was a note. Robin picked it up and inspected the writing. It read: the finder of this chest may take any two items, but no more. Robin pondered the implications of the last statement, was it a warning or a threat? Either way, he decided not to test the honesty of the words and reached into the chest. To his astonishment a hilt found it's way to his hand seemingly of its own volition. He pulled it out and was astonished at the size: out of this 3'×1' chest came a sword with a foot long hilt, adorned with a bright, clouded light blue sapphire the size of his fist and with a blade 4 inches at it's widest and a total 6 feet in length, and a yellow tome that was inscribed with strange symbols that radiated power. One word came to his mind as he looked at the first page: thunder.

He put the book in the holster in his jacket that seemed to have been made for such a spell book and sheathed his massive sword in the sheath on his back, finding a cut behind the neck specifically for the sword. _This feels like a plot device,_ he mused, once again running towards Southtown. _I just hope I'm not too late,_ he thought grimly, running with renewed vigor.

* * *

 **A/N: I have a little challenge for all of you, the first one to guess this Robin's lineage wins. Have a good one guys.**


	3. Chapter 3

Southtown was in shambles; many of the buildings were on fire and the streets were littered with people dead and dying. _Oh gods,_ Robin thought as he rushed through the streets, _where are they?_ A person on the ground coughed and caught Robin's attention.

"Did you...come to help...?" he coughed out, blood pouring from his mouth.

Robin kneeled next to him and brought the vulnerary out from his pocket. "Yes, now please, drink this." he said bringing the vulnerary to the man's lips.

The effect was instantaneous and the more serious cuts on the man's body started to close up. A look of relief passed over his face, "Thank you, sir, I didn't think I would make it."

Robin smiled a bit after hearing this. "Have you seen a small group of people come through here recently?" Robin asked, helping the man to his feet, "there were three of them and they came rushing down here not to long ago."

The man's face brightened when he asked, "You mean the Shepherds?" Robin nodded quickly. "They went down there." the man said pointing down the street, "I think that they were headed for the shrine of Naga in the middle of town." Robin thanked the man and ran towards where the center of town.

What he saw when he reached the area was a massive shrine surrounded by water with stone bridges connecting it to the rest of the town. The bridge that connected the shrine to the area in front of him was swarming with around 15 bandits. At the closest edge of the bridge about 10 of them circled around something. "No! Stay back!" he heard a voice shriek. He looked over to his left and saw a bandit had cornered Lissa who had a staff raised above her head in a futile attempt of protection.

Robin didn't think, he just did, as he rushed the bandit he yelled, "Hey ugly, back here!" This brought the bandit's attention away from Lissa as she pushed him away with her staff. Robin drew his sword and slashed in a single movement, cutting the bandit and his sword in half as he did so. "You alright?" Robin asked Lissa.

"Y-yeah." she stuttered out still in shock.

"Lissa," Robin asked again starting to get concerned, "are you sure you're OK?"

Lissa looked at his hooded face and reached out, pushing the hood back. "Yeah, I just thought that I was going to...to..." she broke off and tears started to form in her eyes. Robin put his hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"Lissa, I'm sorry but you're gonna have to cry about this later." she sniffed and nodded, so Robin continued, "Now, where are Chrom and Frederick?"

This brought her out of her revery and she pointed at the bandits that were standing just off the bridge. When Robin looked at them before he rescued Lissa there were 10 bandits. Now there were 25 corpses. "So you're telling me that Chrom and Frederick are surrounded by all of them?" he asked, pointing at the bandits.

"Yeah..." she said, starting to deflate again.

"Good to know." was all he said before turning and walking towards them, sword resting on his shoulder.

"W-wait!" she shouted, running after him, "What are you planning on doing?"

Robin looked over his shoulder and gave a small grin before saying, "I'm going to save your brother."

Robin charged in with a yell and cut through two men, getting everyone's attention. The bandits lost focus and decided to charge the new threat, hoping to take him down with sheer numbers. This gave Chrom time to catch his breathe and Frederick openings for retaliation. Frederick had fell five of them before the came upon Robin and by then he was already swinging his massive sword. While such a massive blade is great at a distance, it proved to be quite a bit more difficult to swing with an enemy right in front of him, forcing Robin to block or dodge most of the attacks. Chrom caught his breath quickly and was going to charge back into the fray but Robin shouted, "Chrom, Frederick fall back!".

Chrom looked back to see Robin giving the order and made his decision. "Frederick, fall back!".

Frederick nodded and started to back away from the horde of bandits. The bandits gave a cheer as they saw that their enemies were retreating and they looked to their leader for command while he laughed on the bridge. At the same time, Robin, Chrom and Frederick had retreated to where Lissa was and she was healing the wounds that Chrom had received. "Do you mind explaining why you are here?" Frederick asked Robin with daggers in his eyes.

Robin had his sword propped up on his right shoulder with the same hand on the hilt. "Relax Frederick," Lissa piped in after she was done healing Chrom, "he saved me already so I think we can trust him."

Her response garnered looks from both Chrom and Frederick. "If that's true then I owe you more than just thanks, my friend." Chrom said, "Now since you dragged us back here I assume that you have some kind of plan."

All eyes turned to Robin as he laid out his plan. "They have the advantage in numbers", he started, "and we need to eliminate that advantage so here's what I'm thinking: you three hide behind the pillars that are littered in the area."

"But what will you do?" Lissa asked, interrupting Robin's planning.

He looked at Lissa and gave a predatory grin. "I will try and lure a small group of them back to where you guys are hiding so that Chrom and Frederick can ambush them." he explained, "Does everyone understand their role here?"

All three of them nodded that understanding and rushed of to their places while Robin walked into the open and started taunting the bandits. "Over here you dastards!" he yelled, "What's the matter, not smart enough to finish the job?"

The bandit chief roared in outrage at being insulted and pointed to a group of 5 bandits shouting, "Go kill this bastard bring me back his head!" The five bandits ran at Robin with axes at the ready and all Robin did in response was grin and run towards the pillars. When he and his pursuers passed them Chrom and Frederick came out of hiding and assaulted the bandits from their flanks. They had dealt with four of them and and Robin spun, unsheathing his sword, and decapitated the last one.

"I have to admit," Chrom said, "this is working out better than I thought it would...no offense."

"None taken." Robin said while wiping blood off of his sword and onto his face.

"Um, what are you doing?" Lissa asked Robin, who was now wiping blood on his clothes.

"Well," he said, after he thought he looked sufficiently wounded, "they would probably all come rushing down if they thought that I had just bested all five of these guys without taking a scratch then they would probably all come rushing down and we would get overwhelmed."

"So why are you wiping blood all over yourself then?" Lissa asked again, not yet completely grasping what Robin was getting at.

Robin gave a look of exasperation to Chrom who was struggling to suppress a laugh. "Milady, I believe that he is attempting to look wounded so that they only send another small force to finish him off." Frederick answered calmly, "It seems like a sound strategy."

"Thank you Frederick." Robin said appreciatively. "Now everyone back to your positions." He started limping back out to the bridge. "Is that all you've got?" he shouted to the surprise of the bandits.

The leader looked at what he thought was a man near death and laughed, trying to point at some of his men, "you three!" they looked to him, "Go kill this idiot!"

Robin suppressed a smirk and started limping back to his trap. Robin didn't have to say a word as Chrom and Frederick came out of hiding and slew the shocked bandits again.

"Are we going to do this again?" Chrom asked whilst cleaning his sword.

"No" Robin said with a sigh, "they may not exactly be the smartest of people but they are bound to figure out what's been going on if we try it again."

"So what's your plan?" Lissa asked expectantly.

Both Robin and Chrom grinned at each other. "Well..." Robin started, still grinning with Chrom, "if their are no objections..."

"There aren't any." Chrom said.

"Then I think that the direct approach seems like a good idea." he finished.

"About how many are left Robin?" Frederick asked as they made their way to the bridge.

"About seven counting their leader." he answered, "If you and Chrom can handle the rest I'll take him out myself." Frederick nodded his silent affirmation.

To say the bandits were surprised to see Robin running at them would be an understatement but the looks on their faces when Chrom and Frederick came rushing up at either side of him were absolutely priceless. They didn't have time to organize for this new threat and so Chrom and Frederick easily cut through the token resistance that was provided for them, but the chief was ready for when Robin readied his blade.

"Here, sheepy, sheepy," he laughed maniacally, "come to the slaughter!" _Fuck this guy_ , Robin thought, angry and exhausted. He swung his sword over his head to chop the bandit in half but to his surprise the bandit dodged the blow, sending the sword through the cobblestone. _Fuckfuckfuckfuck,_ Robin panicked. The bandit grinned and swung his ax at Robin's stomach. He fell to the ground on his back, still breathing. _Ok what the hell was that,_ Robin wondered as he tried to get air back into his lungs.

"Hey!" the bandit shouted at him, "why aren't you dead?" He seemed to get a bright idea at that moment and swung his ax to decapitate Robin. Robin grabbed the handle of the ax with both hands as the blade started to come down, saving his life. "Die die die!" the bandit chanted maniacally with mirth on his face. _Shit,_ Robin thought desperately, _this guy's tough. If I don't do something soon..._ His mind went to the spell book he had in his jacket. _If I could just reach it...,_ he thought. Letting go of the ax, he rolled on his side and reached into his jacket for his spell book. Meanwhile, the bandit, surprised at the sudden loss of resistance, stumbled and put his hands on the ground on either side of Robin. Robin pulled out the spellbook and put his right hand under the heart of the bandit. Robin leaned up beside the bandit leader's ear and whispered, "Checkmate." before shouting, "THUNDER!" sending a bolt of lightning through the bandit's chest, killing him instantly. Robin got up and looked for the only people he knew.

He heard somebody shout, "Robin" and then he saw something short and blonde rush towards him before it tackled him to the ground. "Lissa...", Robin groaned on his back. Lissa blushed and quickly got up to her feet. "Sorry, I slipped." she said meekly. _Slipped?,_ Robin thought as he got up to his feet, _What the hell could she have possibl...,_ he looked at all of the blood on the ground, _oh._ "Anyway... I just got here from healing Chrom and Frederick, but Chrom said it looked like you took a bad cut to the stomach." she said hurriedly. Robin looked down at where the ax had caught him and let a hand linger down to the new hole in his shirt. He felt at his stomach and it felt...strange, like it was covered with scales. "Sorry Lissa," Robin said, putting the hand behind his head, "but I guess his ax was dull." _I really hate lying to her like this,_ he thought absently. Lissa looked genuinely surprised but smiled anyway. She looked at Robin and grabbed his hand, trying to drag him towards where Chrom and Frederick were. Robin shook out of her grip and muttered an apology before walking up to the sword he had impaled into the ground. He grabbed the hilt and slowly pulled it out from the cobblestone, inspecting it for damage. He was surprised when the blade showed no sign of wear or losing its sharpness. _Well,_ he thought in wonder over the events of the day, _today has been full of mysteries, what harm could one more do?_

He sheathed the sword across his back inside his coat and walked back to Lissa. "Sorry." he said, nudging the hilt peeking out from his coat, "I just couldn't forget this." Lissa nodded quickly and practically dragged him towards the other two, earning a chuckle from Chrom and a look of exasperation from Frederick. "Looks like you handled yourself well my friend." Chrom said with a smile. "Hey Robin?" Chrom asked.

"Yes Chrom?"

"Can I see that sword of yours, please." Robin slowly drew the sword from its sheath as to not provoke the action of Frederick and held it out to Chrom hilt first.

Chrom put his left hand on the hilt and cried out in pain, pulling his hand back. Frederick prepared to lunge at Robin with his spear but Chrom shouted, "STOP." Frederick obeyed. Robin got a look at Chrom's left hand and saw that his palm has severely burnt, but the sword looked fine. _What sorcery is this?_ , Robin thought, _and why didn't it burn me?_

"CHROM!" Lissa screamed, rushing to her brother's side, "Are you OK?" Chrom gave a pained smile, "I'm fine, but could you heal my hand, please?" Lissa quickly pulled out her staff and healed his hand, "There, good as new."

Robin had taken his sword and was resting it comfortably between his neck and shoulder, and was watching the siblings with sad eyes. Frederick looked like he was trying to find the most efficient method of slaying him. _I guess this makes me the king of first impressions,_ Robin thought dryly. Chrom muttered something quietly. "What was that Chrom?" Lissa asked expectantly. "It's nothing", he said to her. He then turned to Robin and said, "It's clear to me you are no victim in this, but I have a question for you."

Robin raised an eyebrow but before Chrom could speak they were surrounded by villagers. Robin looked into to the mob of people and saw the man that he saved standing beside a woman and two children, a boy and a girl. They pushed their way to the front and the woman, whom Robin assumed was the man's wife, rushed in and hugged him, tears running down her face. "Thank you sir," she said behind her tears, "thank you for saving him." Chrom, Lissa and Frederick all had confused looks on their faces but the man quickly explained that Robin had saved his life by giving him a strong healing tonic. Robin blushed a little bit when the woman refused to let go of him and the kids wrapped their arms and legs around his two legs, earning open laughter from the whole crowd. "Please sirs," an older man said as he emerged from the crowd, "we may not be the biggest village but please, allow us to throw a feast in your honor."

Robin gave a contented sigh as he heard the the town's mayor make the offer and he could have sworn that he heard Lissa make the same sound. Unfortunately, Frederick had other ideas. "We thank you for your offer, sir," he said, quashing the idea, "but we have urgent business in Ylisstol that needs to be taken care of."

Lissa seemed to not have heard him though. "Only dark meat for me cooked well done and not too much salt in the soup." she started before realization dawned on her, "Wait, what do you mean we can't stay?"

Frederick gave her an earnest smile before saying, "We don't exactly have time to stay, milady, and I do believe you said something about 'getting used to this'"

"Frederick I seriously hate you right now." This earned another laugh from the crowd. The woman had finally released Robin and, with the help of her husband, untangled the kids from Robin's legs. "One more thing milord." the mayor said as Robin, Chrom and company turned to leave saying their farewells.

"Yes, sir?" Chrom asked, turning to face him once more.

"How are we going to be able to protect ourselves from further bandit raids?" Chrom didn't immediately answer and that caused a wave of worry to wash over the whole crowd until Robin broke the silence. "We are planning on sending a detachment of well-trained guards to defend the town when we get back to Ylisstol. Now I assume that you have a guardhouse here, yes?"

"Well, yes, we do but it has not seen use for many years." the mayor said. "Good, then I would suggest that you send a few people to make it ready for about 20 guardsmen." Robin continued, the crowd gaining more and more hope with every word, "I will draft orders for how they could best prepare the town for possible raids in the future."

The mayor was smiling brightly when he said, "Thank you sir, your promise makes me feel quite safe for the future of Southtown. Now please, you have a long way to travel and we won't hold you any longer, fare thee well, milords and lady!"

* * *

 **I have a few projects I'm working on so it might take a while for me to post chapters but bear with me and it will be done. Have a good one guys.**


	4. Chapter 4

"So Robin", Chrom asked when they had put the town an hour behind them. "Yes Chrom?", Robin asked, still walking. "Why?", he asked, maintaining his pace. "Why? I'm not exactly sure what you mean, Chrom." Chrom sighed, "What I mean is, why did you promise to send guards to protect the town? And what makes you think that I have the authority to do so anyway?" Robin kept walking. He had been expecting this question for quite a while. "Well for starters I saw that you had no answer for the man's question and that made the crowd start to panic, which is why I initially stepped in. As for your other question I just put some pieces together." Chrom frowned, "What do you mean 'put some pieces together'?" Robin looked him in the eye, "Well putting that Frederick calls you milord and that he acts like your personal guard, I just assumed that you were either high up in Ylisse's military or aristocracy." A gleam showed in Chrom's eye and Robin knew that he had either hit the mark or at least come very close to it. "But you said something else, to," Chrom said, trying to remember what Robin said back at Southtown, "something about you giving the guards tactical instructions before they left for Southtown. What was that about?" Robin broke eye contact and looked out at the horizon. "I like sun sets", He said without making any eye contact, "I find it calming and it gives me enough clarity to think about things like this." He looked back at Chrom who was regarding him with a confused look. "To answer your question, I think that standard procedure would be to get the townspeople to safety, right?" Chrom nodded. "Well after that then what? Hold up a line and take the entire enemy force head on?

Chrom stopped walking. "Are you serious?" Robin stopped beside Chrom, "Yeah it's strange, but I guess that I must have had an amazing teacher." Lissa and Frederick had caught up with Chrom and Robin now after they had went to get Frederick's horse from Southtown's stables and Robin had to admit, Frederick looked much more intimidating sitting atop his warhorse. "Why did you guys stop?" Lissa asked, sitting in front of Frederick. Chrom looked up at his sister, "Just a pair of men waiting on the road for their companions to catch up, and I was just about to ask Robin if he would like to be the Shepherds' tactician." Lissa's eyes turned immediately to Robin, "That's great Robin!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly, but Frederick once again killed the mood. "You know that the Exalt has to approve of his character before you can make that official, milord." Chrom gave an exasperated sigh, "Yes Frederick I'm well aware of this but he has earned my trust so why wouldn't that be enough?"

Robin was just standing back as the two warriors clashed words. _I guess I was right about Chrom,_ he thought, _but I don't think that Frederick will ever fully trust me._ Seeing as how Chrom and Frederick continued to argue over what Robin considered to be quite trivial, he took out his spellbook and started to flip through some of the pages. _Ok lets see,_ he thought as he flipped through the pages, _here's thunder, not exactly as strong as I would like but it gets the job done I guess. Oh, what's this, fire and wind? Those could come in handy later on. Anything else? No, no, no, n-wait a minute, candlelight? I guess I'll have to try that out when night falls._

Chrom and Frederick were still arguing but Lissa had reached a breaking point. "Guys!" she screamed ending the argument there. Chrom and Frederick both looked embarrassed at being scolded by the youngest member of the group. "Hey, feel free to start following me when you guys are done arguing over me." Robin said as he started heading down the path again. "Hey!" Chrom shouted while running to catch up with Robin, "Wait up!" Lissa giggled at her brother's antics while Frederick rolled his eyes.

* * *

As night began to descend on the group they quickly organized into groups; Frederick went off to gather firewood, Lissa stayed and started to make the camp with Chrom, and Robin went off hunting. Robin was walking around looking for tracks when he heard an angry growl from his left. Standing there on it's hind legs was a massive grizzly bear. Robin froze and tried not to make any sudden movements as he reached for his spell book. The bear was not happy with how Robin refused to get away and it charged him. _Fuck,_ Robin thought as he fumbled open the book onto wind. _Whatever, let's see how this works._ He cast the wind spell at the bear's feet, making it fall onto it's side. Robin quickly flipped through the book until he got to thunder and he cast it five times into the bear's chest, killing it. "Ok so here's dinner for the night,",Robin said to himself, "but how the hell am I going to get this back to the camp?" He heard rustling behind him and he turned quickly. "Who's there?" he asked. "Relax Robin, it's just me", Chrom said, emerging from the brush. Robin put his book away, visibly relaxing. "Oh, hey," Robin greeted, "what are you doing out here?" "Lissa was worried that you were taking too long and she sent me out to look for you after Frederick got back." Chrom explained, "So did you get anything ye-is that a bear?" "Yes." Robin said with a grin, "Care to help me drag it back to camp?"

* * *

"Mmm... it's been too long since I had bear meat. Delicious!" Chrom moaned into his food but stopped when he noticed that Lissa wasn't eating anything, "What's wrong, Lissa? Dig in." Lissa looked almost insulted by his suggestion. "Pass!...Gods couldn't you guys get a normal animal for once? I mean, come on! Who eats bear?! You're meddling with the food chain. Right Robin?" she asked looking to Robin for validation, "...uh, Robin?" Robin was too busy stuffing bear meat into his mouth to answer. Lissa sighed, "I suppose a person would enjoy just about anything after not eating for days…" "Just eat it Lissa. Meat is meat." Chrom said, trying to coerce his sister into eat. Lissa would have none of it though. "Since when does meat smell like old boots?!" she demanded, growing bolder, "Wait, I take that back—boots smell better!" Frederick, who also hadn't even touched his dinner, said, "Every experience makes us stronger, milady. Even those we don't enjoy." Frederick's lack of appetite didn't go unnoticed by Lissa though. "Really?" she accused, "Then why don't I see YOU eating, Frederick?" Frederick sputtered, searching desperately for an excuse, "Me? Oh...well...I am, not hungry. I had a...a large lunch. Yes, quite." Robin piped in, "I will take whatever nobody else wants." and finished his meat. In truth Robin wasn't nearly hungry enough to finish three servings, let alone two but he had a plan to make some jerky for the road.

Both of the picky eaters gave him their share and he promptly had them laying on a rock close to the fire to dry out. "Well guys, I dunno about you but I'm going to bed." Lissa said in a sleepy voice. "I'll take first watch." Robin said earning appreciative looks from Chrom and Lissa, "That is, if everyone is Ok with that." Everyone's eyes turned to Frederick who, for his benefit, nodded acquiescence without any prompting. Robin took a piece of the meat he was drying and ate it before getting comfortable against a tree, staring into the flames.

About an hour had passed and Robin was finally sure that Frederick was asleep. As quietly as he could, he left the campground and went to a nearby lake leaving his sword leaning against the tree. When he got there he scooped some water in his hands and began to scrub some of the exhaustion out of his face. "Candlelight", he whispered, summoning a ball of light above the lake. The light caused the water to become reflective and Robin finally got to see what he truly looked like; he had short, cerulean blue hair and a rugged, muscular face, making him quite handsome. Robin reeled back for a second before trying to get a better look at his eyes. One was an icy blue, and the other a deep red that resembled the colour of the rubies on his sword. _I guess that explains why Chrom and Lissa acted the way they did back in the field when I opened my eyes,_ Robin thought, reminiscing a bit. _I wonder…_ Robin took off his jacket and the shirt underneath it. What he saw both terrified and enthralled him. His entire torso was covered in scales the same colour as his hair and they extended down his arms to his wrist. He felt his legs and noticed a similar feeling down to his ankles. _I guess this is why the ax didn't kill me,_ he thought in wonder. He stopped. _What would the others think of me if they knew what I hide beneath this coat,_ he wondered as he squeezed the fabric between his fingers. He thought of Chrom then, and the birthmark on his shoulder. _That can't be something unique to him_ , he thought, _it's too perfect, too crisp to be an accident. I'll have to ask him about it tomorrow on the road._ He took one last look at himself, and felt the ground shake.

* * *

Chrom awoke with a start. He looked around for Robin but couldn't see him anywhere. "Damnit." he said a bit louder than he intended, waking Lissa. "What's wrong, big brother?" she yawned. "Robin's gone." Lissa snapped to attention. "Wait, what do you mean 'gone?'" Lissa asked. "I mean that he isn't here, in the immediate area." Chrom explained gesturing to the camp with his hands. "Well, should we go looking for him?" she asked. "Wake Frederick", he said, "we start looking as soon as he is ready." "As soon as who is ready, milord?". Frederick said, already on his horse in full armour. "Robin is missing," Lissa told him, "we were just going to wait until you were ready to go, but since you're already here..." she trailed off, hoping that Frederick would take the hint. "I see." he said without a hint of emotion, "He will be hunted down immediately." He started to ride off but Lissa and Chrom stopped him. "No Frederick!" Lissa shouted. "The goal is to FIND Robin not to kill him." Chrom said more rationally, "Now c'mon, I think I saw some footprints over here."

* * *

"It sure is dark ...And quiet. Where did the birds go?" Lissa wondered out loud. "Something is wrong here..." Chrom muttered before the ground started to shake. "Gods what...Ah, what is this madness?" The ground in front of them started to shift up. "Lissa run", he said. "Huh?" she asked. "Go, now!" he commanded pushing her in the direction he was going. "Frederick let's go!" A wall of lava spewed out of the earth behind and to their sides, lighting the trees on fire. The trio ran up to a shallow cliff. "Jump." Frederick shouted, "I'll find another way around, you two go now!"

Chrom nodded to Frederick and then commanded with urgency, "C'mon Lissa, let's go!" as he slid down into the valley, catching his sister as she jumped. when they reached the bottom Chrom surveyed their surroundings, noting that there appeared to be a solid wall of fire roughly a kilometer away in front of them but otherwise there appeared to be no immediate danger. "C-C-Chrom?" Lissa asked in a very shaky voice whilst pointing at the sky. "W-what is that?"

* * *

Robin rushed back to the camp, struggling to pull his shirt and jacket back on as he crashed through branches. He arrived back at the camp to see that everyone else was gone. "Shit." he mumbled to himself as he looked around the deserted site, strapping his sword to his back, "Where in the hell did they go?"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" a loud, feminine voice screamed in the distance. _Was that…_ he started thinking before shouting, "LISSA!" and took off running towards the scream. Dodging branch after branch he muttered to himself, "Be okay guys, just please be okay."

The smell of smoke and the sounds of battle filled the air as Robin neared a clearing and he started to run even faster but a mailed hand grabbed him by the collar and threw him onto the back of a galloping war horse. "I'll deal with you later, but first we must protect my lord and milady." "Frederick?" Robin asked before saying with an edge of command, whilst drawing his blade, "then let's go with all haste".

* * *

 **A/N: I bet that you assumed I was going to use the stock Robin didn't ya? Well you know what they say about assuming. Anyway, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far and the game continues.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Just a quick heads up, this is going to be the last chapter for a few weeks. I'm not happy about it either but I test for my brown belt in on the 15th and you would not believe how many things I have to remember, think upwards of 200. So until then, have a good day, or don't, your choice, it's 5:30 in the morning right now, and I should just stop writing now.**

* * *

The field was covered by smoke and a strange purple mist. However, the sounds of clashing swords drew the two to their quarry. "Frederick," Robin said in a voice low enough to not draw any attention, "when we find them I want you to put Lissa where I am now." Frederick nodded, "Agreed, all the better to keep milady safe." The sound of battle was getting closer but Robin still couldn't see through the smog. Then he had an idea. Taking out his spellbook he started flipping through it's pages, looking for the one thing he thought could clear the field. He felt the magic circulate around him as he cast wind, blowing the smoke and mist away to reveal Chrom and a masked man defending Lissa from what looked to be 20 corpses at the far end of the field.

"What in Naga's name are those?" Robin asked in horror. Seeming to hear Robin's question they snapped their heads over at them, boring their glowing red gazes into their memories. Frederick was seemingly unaffected by their ghastly gaze as he rode confidently into the fray. "AAAAHHHHHHH!" Lissa screamed as three of the monsters started to close in on her, snapping Robin back to his senses as he and Frederick rode to her her aid. Frederick struck first by impaling the closest one with his lance as Robin rolled off the great knight's horse and swung his sword in a horizontal arc, bisecting the remaining two. "What sorcery is this?" Frederick demanded as the monster he had impaled started to pull itself closer to him. Robin looked down and saw that the two that he had cut in half had grabbed his ankles.

He started to panic, quickly removing their hands with a swing of his sword but they didn't stop, instead trying to bite his ankles. _Attack the head,_ a voice in his head told him, and he was desperate enough to try anything. He took a step back and plunged the tip of the blade through one of their heads. It immediately started to dissipate into purple smoke, so he crushed the other's with his right foot. "Frederick!" he called out, "Attack the head!" Frederick nodded and reached grabbed the sword he had strapped to his horse's saddle, drew it, and chopped into the monster's head as it was about to swing at him, and it, too, dissipated into purple smoke.

Meanwhile, Chrom and a masked man in blue were fighting off a horde of the monsters back-to-back, fighting in perfect harmony as blue afterimages traced the air behind their swords as they cut down their foes. "Frederick, protect Lissa!" Robin ordered as he hoisted her onto the back of Frederick's horse. The stalwart knight nodded before he rode off to pick off stragglers as a fresh wave mindlessly charged Robin as he adopted a defensive stance. "…Captain Chrom! Wait! I'm coming!" a feminine voice called out, Robin looked back and saw a cavalier with short red hair charging onto the battlefield with a pompous archer trailing behind her. "...Agh, I knew I shouldn'ta left 'em. All right, you ash-faced freaks! Which one of ya wants to try my lance on for size first? I know just the spot for it: shoved right up your-"

"Hold, milady!" the archer called after her, effectively cutting her off and stopping her in her tracks. "Muh?" she asked, dumbfounded by the interruption. Meanwhile Robin engaged the his opponents, swinging powerfully at their necks as he dodged their clumsy, yet relentless, strikes. "Life may be long, but attraction is fleeting! Would you leave me in your sweet dust? Leave war to the warriors, dear bird! A beauty such as you need wage only love." the archer continued, clearly not concerned with the battle around them. "...The hell are you?!" the cavalier demanded, much to the archer's apparent joy. "Ha! Is the lady intrigued?" he crowed, "Of course you are—it's-" "DO YOU NEED TO DO THIS NOW!" Robin shouted as he blocked three swords. Suddenly arrows seemed to sprout out of their faces and they dissipated. "I am myth and legend!" he continued without missing a beat, "I am he who strides large across history's greatest stage! The man who puts the "arch" in "archer"! My name, dear lady, is Vi-."

"Nice shootin' Ruffles," she interrupted, "but he's right. Onward!" She charged towards Chrom and the masked swordsman before Robin ordered, "Not to them! Pick up Ruffles! Go to Frederick and flank them together!" The cavalier heard the sharp tone of command in his voice and replied, "You got it!" She hoisted Ruffles onto the back of her horse while saying, "C'mon Ruffles, it's time to smash heads and kick ass!" Ruffles was taken aback by her proclamation. "A stunning creature such as yourself shouldn't be using such harsh words, but I shall be your most willing servant, and you, in turn, will give my life purpose... And please, milady, my name is Virion." They quickly rode out of earshot and Robin decapitated the last of the monsters attacking him. He quickly surveyed the battlefield and saw that the majority of the enemy force was shambling towards Chrom and the masked swordsman, both of which had blue afterimages trailing behind their swords. But there were five of them that were clearly different from their counterparts; They stood in the center of the horde, wore no armour, had long, flowing hair, and had higher quality weapons. _The leaders_ , Robin surmised as he charged once more into the fray, this time beside Chrom and the swordsman. He felt strangely familiar with their fighting styles, able to predict how they were going to attack before they did, almost like he had spent years training and fighting alongside them.

In no time their entire group had decimated the horde, the three swordsmen taking the brunt of the assault while the knights and archer trimmed off the stragglers as they tore through the flanks, leaving only the strongest five monsters alive as the Shepherds rallied together. The remaining monster chieftains all quickly broke into a sprint toward Frederick and Lissa, weaving in between Virion's arrows as the leapt into the air to attack. Robin quickly pulled out his spellbook and cast wind at the monsters' feet, throwing off their balance and making them fall onto their backs. Frederick and Red quickly charged forward and impaled the outer two, as Chrom and Blue leapt into the air and vertically bisected the next two and Robin cast thunder through the skull of the center one.

"Is that all of them?" Chrom panted as he leaned on his sword. Frederick got off of his horse and gently lifted Lissa back to the ground. "Thanks Frederick!" she beamed and Robin was positive that he saw the smallest of smiles grace the lips of the knight. "Of course milady, I'm just glad to see that you're unharmed." He looked over to Chrom, "It appears as though all the creatures are vanquished." Lissa ran up to Blue, "Um, I never got to thank you...for before." she said nervously, "So...thank you. You were very brave." Chrom put a hand on his sister's shoulder and introduced himself, "You saved my sister's life. My name is Chrom. Might I ask yours?"

"You may call me Marth." Blue said casually. Robin saw everyone tense at the man's name. _Is that the name of a horrible criminal or something,_ he thought. "Marth? After the heroic king of old?" Chrom asked as Robin thought, _Oh._ "You certainly fight like a hero. Where did you learn your way with a sword?" Unfortunately, Marth clearly had an agenda. "I'm not here to talk about me. This world teeters at the brink of a horrible calamity. What you saw tonight was but a prelude. You have been warned." "Certainly sounds pleasant." Robin muttered sarcastically, earning a sharp glare from Marth, who's gender Robin was now beginning to question. But before he could raise any questions Marth left and Lissa asked, "Huh? What's teetering where now? Hey, wait!" "He is quite the enigma." Robin noted, earning a nod and remark from Frederick, "I wager we'll hear his name again... But for now I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste."


	6. Chapter 6 - Lost in the Castle

**Hey guys, it's been a while hasn't it? Don't worry (or grab the pitchforks), I'm back for the foreseeable future with a bi-weekly schedule, but I'm curious about all of you. Who is your favourite Fire Emblem character? Mine happens to be Micaiah from Radiant Dawn. Something about arguably immortal characters seems to click with me. Anyway, I should have a new chapter written this time next week and let's call it 'THE NEW TACTICIAN' as Robin tries to remember his past and dodge wyrmslayers (which honestly would describe most, if not all, of the story).**

* * *

"So this is the capital of Ylisse", Robin marvelled as his group made their way through the market towards the castle on the hill.

"It appears the capital was spared the chaos we encountered, thank the gods. I see no evidence of the great quake." Frederick noted with relief evident in his voice, either not hearing or caring about what the tactician said. "It must've been limited to the forest."

Robin and Chrom both let out a sigh of relief as Lissa happily said, "Well that's a relief!"

Robin noticed that a large group of people were crowded along an intersecting street. His curiosity flared when he heard someone shout something about the Exalt coming to see them. The Exalt was a young woman with an open and kind demeanor that was being escorted by four grounded pegasus knights. "The Exalt is your ruler, right?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Yes. Her name is Lady Emmeryn." Frederick answered dutifully.

"Is it really safe for her to be walking around with such little protection?" Robin asked as various scenarios about her demise played out in his mind, some of which shook him to his core. But before he could wonder why his mind would instinctually go to such a dark place

"The exalt is a symbol of peace—Ylisse's most prized quality." Frederick explained like an old teacher, "Long ago, at the dawn of our age, the Fell Dragon tried to destroy the world. But the first Exalt joined forces with the Divine Dragon and laid the beast low. Exalt Emmeryn reminds us all of the peace we fought for then."

"With Plegia poking at our borders, the people need her. She's a calming presence, when some might otherwise call for war." Chrom added concisely.

"Then the Ylissean people are indeed lucky to have her." Robin said with an understanding nod.

"She's also the best big sister anyone could ask for!" Lissa said, almost bursting with happiness and excitement.

Robin, still trying to comprehend his slightly twisted psyche, didn't initially register what she said. "Yeah, I imagine that she would be." he said before he realized what she implied. "Wait, she's your…Then you and Chrom are…"

"The prince and princess of the realm, yes." Frederick confirmed with, to Robin's horror, suspicion seeping into his voice, "You remember milord's name and not this?"

"You said you were "shepherds"!" Robin said in a futile attempt to defend himself.

Chrom broke in between the two to act as a peacekeeper. "And so we are...in a manner of speaking." he tried to explain, albeit in a similarly vague manner, " We just have a LOT of sheep."

Robin was at a loss for words. "C-Chrom…" he started but began to wilt under Frederick's unyielding glare, "I mean, Prince Chrom! Sire! Forgive my dreadful manners!

Chrom "Just Chrom is fine. I've never been much for formalities."

"The prince and princess…" he thought aloud, thinking about how close his idea of Chrom as a general really was, "That explains why Frederick tolerates all the teasing, eh?"

"Indeed." Frederick said as he raised a hand over his face in mock despair, "Oh, the sacrifices I make for the good of the realm…"

Chrom rolled his eyes and looked to his elder sister. "It looks like Emm is returning to the palace." he noticed as he turned back to the group, "Would you like to meet her?"

Robin pondered this for a few seconds and asked Frederick, "You still think I'm some kind of spy?" He was answered with stoic silence but Frederick's eyes betrayed suspicion. He looked over to Chrom and said, "If their are no other objectio-" but he was cut off when Lissa latched onto his arm and started pulling towards the palace with more strength than he expected from someone of her upbringing, as Chrom openly laughed and Frederick face-palmed.

* * *

The palace was sparsely decorated and was lined with large open windows. The throne room itself was almost excessively large and open with various different hallways lining its sides and more windows that flooded it with natural light. Pleasant in times of peace, but a tactical nightmare in times of conflict, Robin noted as he was led in by his royal friends. He noticed all of the guards were warily watching him with firm grips on their weapons but a flash of long red hair leaving caught his eye. Initially he thought that it was Sully but her hair wasn't nearly long enough to be the mystery person. He was brought out of his head when the Exalt herself stood to greet her family.

"Chrom! Lissa!" she exclaimed with open arms as Lissa ran up and gave her a tight hug. "Welcome home. Oh, and good day, Frederick. How fared you all?"

Chrom watched with an amused smile as Lissa released her sister, "Well," he said, "we shouldn't have any bandit problems for a while."

Emmeryn had a knowing look as a woman with light blue hair and red eyes that Robin assumed to be Emmeryn's bodyguard came to her side. "Wonderful." Emmeryn said before inquiring, "And our people?"

"Safe as they can be, Emm. But we still need to watch the borders. The brigands crossed over from Plegia.""

The bodyguard gave a slight bow as she said, "Forgive me, milord. My pegasus knights should have intercepted them."

Not just a bodyguard, Robin noted from beside Chrom when he noticed Emmeryn was watching him with a curious gaze. He involuntarily gulped.

"No, Phila. Your duty was here, with the exalt." Chrom said kindly before Lissa spoke up.

"And besides, we had plenty of help!"

"Ah," Emmeryn said without taking her eyes off of the tactician, "you speak of your new companion here?"

"This is Robin." Chrom said happily with an arm around his friend's shoulder, "He fought bravely with us against the brigands. I've decided to make him a Shepherd."

Emmeryn looked at him with pleasant surprise. "It sounds as though Ylisse owes you a debt of gratitude, Robin." she said with a smile.

"Not at all, milady!" he said, feeling unworthy of her praise. He was going to continue but was cut short by Frederick.

"Forgive me, Your Grace, but I must speak. Robin claims to have lost his memory, but it is only that: a claim. We cannot rule out the possibility that he is a brigand himself or even a Plegian spy."

"Frederick!" Chrom shouted in slight anger at his continuous suspicion. Robin himself heard every guard in the hall shift slightly with Frederick's entirely plausible accusation and shuddered slightly.

Emmeryn, however, was unfazed by the accusation and said, "Yet you allowed him into the castle, Chrom. Does this man have your trust?"

"Yes. He risked his life for our people. That's good enough for me."

Emmeryn smiled once more and said, "Well then, Robin… It seems you've earned Chrom's faith, and as such you have mine as well." releasing some of the weight from his shoulders He gave her a courteous bow and she looked over at Frederick. "Thank you, Frederick, for your prudence, as always. Chrom and Lissa are blessed to have so tireless a guardian." she said, still smiling, "I do hope they remember to mention that from time to time…"

"They occasionally express something akin to gratitude, Your Grace." he said with pride. "Phila. I assume you've heard about the deathly creatures we encountered, yes?"

"Yes, milord. They've been sighted all across Ylisse."

"Chrom, we are about to hold council. I was hoping you could join us." Emmeryn said with a hint of command. Chrom nodded.

"Of course."

Robin considered asking if he could join them but didn't want to overstay his welcome. Instead Lissa grabbed his arm again and started pulling him towards a hallway saying, "I think that's our cue, Robin! C'mon, there's a place I want to show you." As they were exiting he noticed that most of the veteran guards had begun to relax, and one was quietly laughing at his plight, but he was quickly pulled into a hallway and away from everyone else.

'Where are we going?" he asked her, but she just giggled and let go of him but she didn't stop running and she was soon out of his sight. He sighed a little nervously as he ran to the corner… only to have the redhead he noticed before round it before him and run straight into his abdomen, knocking to the ground. Up close he could see that she was only armoured from the waist up and looked like she was wearing a garter belt that hooked to a pair of thigh high leather boots, but her long red hair and ruby eyes caught his attention. Beautiful, he thought as he admired her seemingly perfect figure before moving to help her up. "Sorry." he said as he offered her a hand, but she neglected it and got up on her own.

"Who gave you permission to wander the palace unattended?" she demanded fiercely jabbing her finger into his chest, but she stopped as soon as she met rugged resistance.

"Lissa dragged me over her but she kind of abandoned me here." he tried to explain but she looked skeptical, "You didn't see her, did you."

She sighed and almost tiredly said, "She looked like she was headed towards the Shepherds' barracks. Follow me."

Robin put two and two together quickly, and was both glad and annoyed that another person didn't take him for his word. "Clever." he muttered but a slight move of her head told him that she heard him. "My name's Robin by the way, and again I'm terribly sorry for running into you."

It seemed like she heard the sincerity in his voice but she didn't drop her guard. She did, however, say, "Cordelia."

* * *

 **A/N: How many of you guys are gonna crucify me for hinting at Robin/Cordelia? 3 of you maybe. But as always, have a good one guys!**


	7. Chapter 7 - Meeting the Crew

"Is that a library?" Robin asked as they made their way down the halls. He didn't know why, but he felt a calling from it. Unfortunately, Cordelia was a dutiful knight.

"Keep moving."

He sighed as they passed it until he spotted a familiar blonde peek out from behind a bookcase on the far end of the room. His eyes met hers and she quickly pulled her head back out of sight. _Really?_ he thought as he stopped moving altogether. Cordelia went on for a few steps before realizing he stopped. She was about to speak but Robin said, "I'll just be a moment."

"Wait!" she ordered sternly at him as he was halfway through the room. Stopping, however, wouldn't have helped him in any way so he kept moving to where he had last seen the blonde royal. He wasn't terribly surprised to find that she had moved but some giggling from underneath a desk told him everything he needed to know.

"I guess I must have been mistaken." he said loud enough for her to hear. He saw Cordelia had found a lance from somewhere and was regarding him with it. He nonchalantly moved the table that the sprightly cleric was hiding under, revealing her to his would-be assailant.

"Awwwww, how'd you find me?" Lissa pouted as she got back to her feet. Cordelia put two and two together and lowered her lance.

"I'm sorry that I doubted you sir." she said with a light bow.

She started to turn her back to them but a word from Robin stopped her. "You did what anyone in your position would have done Cordelia." he said evenly, and was going to continue but LIssa excitedly cut him off.

"OOH OOH, show her your big sword Robin!" she said with only the purest of intentions.

"That's probably not a good idea Lissa." he said back. He noticed that Cordelia's cheeks had started to take a redish hue. _What's she so embarrassed about?_ He wondered until Lissa spoke again.

"Awwww, but it's soooo big!" she said carelessly until she remembered what happened and asked. "Because of what happened when Chrom touched it?"

Cordelia's face lit up like her hair and she quickly got out of the room as Robin glared at Lissa. "What?" she asked.

Robin physically wiped the anger off of his face and in a slightly dejected tone said, "I'll tell you when you're older." And together they made their way to the barracks.

"So this is the barracks?" Robin asked as Lissa lead him into a sizable building built into the outer wall of the castle. The doors were open and he could hear muffled conversations from inside.

"Yup!" Lissa exclaimed happily as she dragged him into it. once more surprising him with her strength. When they entered the building all of the conversations stopped and all eyes were on them. Inside were 4 people: a shirtless guy with an axe leaning back in a chair seemingly listening to a posh girl in pink talking to a grey-haired woman in similar dress as Cordelia. Robin had to strain his eyes to see a heavily armoured knight standing in the corner of the room to his left behind a myriad of items in the room and was generally being ignored by everyone else. "Here we are!" Lissa exclaimed, "The Shepherds' garrison! Go on, make yourself at home."

The posh girl reacted first by racing up to Lissa and saying in a very cultured voice, "Lissa, my treasure! Are you all right? I've been on pins and needles." as she looked at Robin with open curiosity.

Lissa replied very nonchalantly in her usual manner, "Oh, hey, Maribelle!"

Maribelle turned her attention back to Lissa and said, "'Oh hey' yourself! I've sprouted 14 grey hairs fretting over you!" She seemed overly dramatic to Robin as he started a mental list of the people in the room.

"Hey squirt! Where's Chrom?" the shirtless man said as he slowly followed Maribelle with the grey haired woman perking up at the lord's name, "I bet he had a rough time out there without ol' Teach and his trusty axe!"

 _Confident_ , Robin noted mentally but thought again, _more likely over-confident_.

"Oh, so you're 'Teach' now Vaike?" Lissa said a little haughtily, something that Robin thought was a little out of character, until she started giggling and said, "And here I thought people were just born lacking wits. It can be taught?"

Vaike took her insult with evident pride as he laughed and said, "Never doubt the Vaike!" A few seconds later he processed what she said, "...wait, was that an insult?"

The grey haired woman spoke up in a nervous voice, asking, "Beg pardon, when might we see the captain?"

Maribelle looked back at her sympathetically and explained, "Poor Sumia. She's simply been beside herself with concern… Her eyes were always scanning the horizon all day during training… she might have earned fewer bruises fighting blindfolded."

 _I'm going to need to write a log to keep up with all of this_ , Robin thought as he listened to the banter. He glanced over to the corner where he saw the knight and didn't see anyone. He scanned the room quickly in surprise and couldn't find him anywhere. He was going to continue but a question from Vaike brought him back to his senses.

"So, who's the stranger?"

"No one's stranger than you Vaike!" Lissa said trying, and failing, to make a joke, "But allow me to introduce Robin! Chrom's made him our new tactician! You should see all of the tricks up his sleeves!"

"Oh yeah?" Vaike countered to a challenge that hadn't been made, "Can he do this?" and he let out a loud belch, to Maribelle's disgust.

"I'm afraid I don't know anything quite as grandiose as that 'Teach', in any case it's a pleasure to make your acquaintances."

"Ugh, Vaike! That was abhorrent! Must you baseborn oafs pollute even the air with your buffoonery!?"" Maribelle chimed in with disgust and disappointment, "And you, Robin! Don't encourage him! I'd hoped you were cut from finer cloth. Hmph." She stormed off after berating them both.

"Don't take it to heart, Robin." Sumia said to console the confused tactician, "Maribelle warms to people slowly."

"Or burns too quickly!" Lissa chimed in with a laugh, "But yeah, just give her time."

Chrom walked into the garrison likely walking past Maribelle beforehand. Sumia was both elated and nervous as he walked in, shakily saying, "Ah! Captain! You've returned! I was- I mean, we were so-" She went to walk to Chrom, but tripped on some papers, falling harshly on her face, but she quickly got back to her feet and dusted herself off.

"Sumia!" Chrom cried out in concern, "Are you all right? ...Those boots of yours again?"

"No!" she cried out in embarrassment, but she may have told a different story before so she changed her mind, "I mean, yes! I mean…" She sighed.

"All right, listen, everyone," Chrom said after digesting her weak answer, "in the morning, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox."

"Regna Ferox?" Robin asked confused, earning curious looks from everyone he had just met. _Probably worried about their new tactician's lack of geographical knowledge_ , he guessed.

"A unified kingdom to Ylisse's north inhabitied by barbarians, or so it's said." Sumia answered with textbook like accuracy. Robin nodded appreciatively.

"Warriors are what they are," Chrom corrected patiently, "and we'll need their strength to quell thas new menace. Typically, the exalt would request such aid in person. But given recent events... Well, the people might worry should my sisiter suddenly leave the capital. So the task has been passed to us. Now, this mission is strictly voluntary. So if, for any-"

"I volunteer!" Lissa shouted beside him.

Vaike: "Me too!" Vaike called out immediately after, "You'll be needin' ol' Teach along for such a delicate mission!"

"I'll go as well." the knight said from the right behind Robin, making the new tactician jump a little, "...What? I've been here the whole time!"

"I... I, um…" Sumia tried to say but nerves made her stumble over her words.

"Yes, Sumia?" Chrom asked patiently.

"It's just that... I'm not sure I'm quite ready for a proper mission just yet. I'd probably just get in the way." she answered meekly, earning an amused head shake from Chrom.  
"Well," he pondered aloud, "you could stay behind the main group, and if a battle is met, just watch and learn? Your choice, of course. But some lessons can only be learned on the battlefield."

"W-well, if you think it wise, Captain." she relented.

"Just stay by me and you'll be fine." he said with a reassuring smile.

Her face lit up in unrestrained joy. "Oh, yes!" she shouted a little too excitedly before quieting herself down, "I mean- Yes, sir, I'll do that."

Chrom nodded and pulled Robin to the side saying, "We need to talk."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank God the long weekend is finally coming to a close, now I can do the one thing I've truly been waiting to do: play Echoes. But on another note I'm glad to finally have a chance to write again for all you crazy devils (Seriously though, thanks for the patience) With that out of the way the next chapter is going to be a little analytical, points to whoever guesses why, and the hunt for Robin's parents lives on, a few of you have actually sent me a pm with your guesses and while I'm flattered you took the time you're all wrong, but feel free to try again. So until next time, have a good one guys.**


	8. Last chapter for a while

"What's the matter Chrom?" Robin asked. T

hey were standing in the middle of the courtyard in front of the Shepherds' barracks, not exactly the most private of places.

"I saw Maribelle storm out," Chrom said, "that didn't have anything to do with you I hope."

Robin saw the smirk on the lord's face and shrugged off the accusation. "I'm afraid that she likes me as much as Frederick does." he said scratching the back of his head.

Chrom laughed and walked towards the crimson haired tactician. "I'm sure they'll warm up to you eventually my friend." Sensing that Robin was about to ask what he brought him out here for he said, "There are some things from the meeting that I thought you should know. For starters, we've decided to call those things we fought yesterday 'Risen'." he explained as he lead Robin towards a pair of crossed training swords in the ground. "Can I see your sword again?"

"Are you sure?" Robin asked incredulously, wondering if Chrom forgot what happened last time he tried to hold it.

Chrom smiled and explained, "I just want to have a closer look at it, without burning myself." Robin nodded and took unsheathed his sword holding it horizontally in his hands. The sun glistened along it's polished blade as Chrom thoughtfully inspected it. "I can't believe it…" he said incredulously.

"Can't believe what?" Robin asked, having no idea what his friend was amazed by.

"That," Chrom specified by pointing at the sword itself, "is Durandal."

Robin looked down at the sword and then back to Chrom and tilted his head slightly in confusion. "Is it some kind of historical weapon?"

"Durandal is one of the nine legendary weapons from the ancient land of Elibe and was used by the hero Roland to slay Dragons." Chrom explained, "But it's been lost for centuries, how did you find it?"

* * *

 **A/N: How come Durandal and Armads aren't effective against manaketes in FE Heroes? They were made to kill dragons and essentially made the air toxic to them after they were used. Just makes no God damn sense. Back to the story.**

* * *

"I…" Robin began but stopped when he realized how crazy it would sound to recount how he found it, so instead he said, "I don't know, I must have found it before I woke up in that field."

Chrom nodded, not making any indication of whether or not he believed what Robin claimed, instead he said, "I see. Would you care to spar?"

Robin stabbed Durandal into the ground and said, "Sure." but immediately realized that they had walked into the center of the sparing field and Chrom picked up a pair of training swords and tossed one of them at him saying, "Prepare yourself." Robin was a little confused but caught the wooden weapon and took a defensive stance.

Chrom leapt high into the air in front of the sun, forcing Robin to use his sword as a both a visor and a shield. Chrom came down fast and hard, vertically spinning several times to multiply the force of his attack. Clever, Robin thought as their blades made contact. He pushed back savagely but the lord met him with equal strength in a battle of a attrition.

Neither was willing to give an inch until Robin angled his sword to the ground and slashed at Chrom's neck when his sword slid to the ground. Chrom ducked underneath the attack and rammed his shoulder into Robin's sternum. He pushed Robin back but it felt like hitting a wall. Robin sucked in a breath and let his body go into autopilot as he thought of a way to beat his friend. Their swords clashed time and time again with loud cracks that drew a growing crowd, but the fighters mostly kept their focus on each other.

"Kick his butt Chrom!" Lissa shouted.

"Show him what Teach taught you Chrom!" Vaike shouted.

Out of the corner of their eyes Chrom and Robin both saw Phila and her pegasus knights, including Cordelia and Sumia, standing beside the Shepherds and they saw that the crowd had a clear favourite

Chrom and Robin crossed blades for another test of strength and Chrom saw Robin's stamina had started to pressed his advantage, slowly pushing Robin down into the ground. Robin smiled and Chrom realised his mistake too late. The tactician spun into a dragon sweep, knocking the already off-balance lord onto his back with a sword against his throat.

Robin felt something poking his chest and saw Chrom's blade poised to take his heart and smiled. The crowd around them erupted into whispers. "A draw?"

Robin offered his left hand to Chrom and pulled him to his feet when he accepted it. The crowd erupted into applause as the two shook hands.

* * *

 **A/N: Let's be honest, this chapter could have been both longer, and feasibly better, but I more or less put this out so that I could tell you guys that this story is going to be on hiatus for an undefined amount of time, not really sure why I thought that writing two stories and a D &D campaign at the same time while working full time was a good idea but that's neither here nor there and something that none of you probably care about. Anyway, yeah Durandal, I only took a few liberties with the blazing blade but really, who doesn't want a sword that's slowly killing it's wielders entire race...kind of messed up now that I think of it... Hope you guys all enjoy the rest of Summer.**


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